Banoo Parpia

Diet, lifestyle, and the etiology of coronary artery disease : The Cornell China study

Investigators collected and analyzed mortality data for >50 diseases, including 7 different cancers, from 65 counties and 130 villages in rural mainland China. Blood, urine, food samples, and detailed dietary data were collected from 50 adults in each village and analyzed for a variety of nutritional, viral, hormonal, and toxic chemical factors. In rural China, fat intake was less than half that in the United States, and fiber intake was 3 times higher. Animal protein intake was very low, only about 10% of the US intake. Mean serum total cholesterol was 127 mg/dL in rural China versus 203 mg/dL for adults aged 20-74 years in the United States. Coronary artery disease mortality was 16.7-fold greater for US men and 5.6-fold greater for US women than for their Chinese counterparts. The combined coronary artery disease mortality rates for both genders in rural China were inversely associated with the frequency of intake of green vegetables and plasma erythrocyte monounsaturated fatty acids, but positively associated with a combined index of salt intake plus urinary sodium and plasma apolipoprotein B. These apolipoproteins, in turn, are positively associated with animal protein intake and the frequency of meat intake and inversely associated with plant protein, legume, and light-colored vegetable intake. Rates of other diseases were also correlated with dietary factors. There was no evidence of a threshold beyond which further benefits did not accrue with increasing proportions of plant-based foods in the diet.

Additional ecological evidence: Lipids and breast cancer mortality among women aged 55 and over in China

That dietary fat increases breast cancer risk has been strongly supported by international data collected among developed countries during the past few decades. Population aggregates with elevated lipid intake have tended to report elevated breast cancer incidence and mortality. This study is an ecological analysis of the association of various indicators of lipid intake with breast cancer mortality in 65 county-wide population aggregates in the Peoples Republic of China. Although the result is consistent with a positive association between lipid intake and breast cancer risk, the observed association is weaker than the association previously observed. This finding provides only modest support for the possibility of a diet-breast cancer link.

Vitamin A and carotenoid status in rural China

Vitamin A status of 260 groups of twenty-five males or twenty-five females, aged 35-64 years, surveyed in twenty-four provinces of the Peoples Republic of China, was assessed by measuring plasma retinol. retinol-binding protein and beta-carotene concentrations. Direct measurements of food intake over a 3 d period and questionnaire data on the frequency of consumption of vegetables, fruits, animal products and other dietary items were also used. Vitamin A status appeared to be low only in specific counties but in general was satisfactory or only marginally deficient. Plasma beta-carotene levels were strikingly low in comparison with Western levels despite generous vegetable consumption suggesting that intake of vitamin A precursors may have been adequate but not abundant enough to maintain high circulating plasma levels of beta-carotene. Plasma beta-carotene, for both males and females, was significantly correlated with the frequency of consumption of green vegetables. Plasma retinol, for males, was highly correlated with meat, fish, oil and alcohol consumption expressed both in quantity or frequency of consumption. Higher levels of plasma retinol, together with lower levels of plasma beta-carotene in males compared with females, suggest that men consume more animal products or may have higher retinol requirements and therefore a higher rate of conversion of beta-carotene to retinol.

Dietary fiber composition of selected foods in the People's Republic of China

Abstract The content of dietary fiber and its components in food items commonly consumed in China were analyzed using more recently developed methods. These foods were collected as part of an epidemiologic study designed to investigate the relationship between diet and disease. Five hundred and twenty-seven food samples were analyzed for total dietary fiber (TDF), neutral-detergent fiber (NDF) including its constituents, hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignin, and soluble dietary fiber. The content (% dry weight) of TDF was 1.2 to 17 for cereals, 16 to 52 for legumes, 7.7 to 37 for tubers and roots, 20 to 56 for cucurbits and fruits, and 27 to 55 for leafy vegetables. Samples of 15 of these foods were replicated in 14 or more counties permitting assessment of geographic variation for the same food. Considerable variation in fiber content was observed indicating that nutrient contents of specific foods published in composition tables are likely to be considerably more variable than generally appreciated even though replicates may be collected and analyzed at the same time of year.

Dietary patterns, nutrient intakes, and nutritional anthropometry of urban puerto rican toddlers

Abstract Progress toward a healthier America can only come when programs target their health and promotion activities to special population groups. This concern paved the way for a 3-year study among 120 urban Puerto Rican children, aged 5 to 37 months. Dietary results showed that, despite low mean household incomes, children exhibited adequate intakes, and, in some instances, the intakes exceeded the recommendations. This was particularly true of protein (53 ± 17.6 g), fat (48 ± 16.7 g), and sodium (1127 ± 661.4 mg) intakes. When the mean distribution of energy per meal was examined, snacks, rather than a meal, were found to be the major contributors (35%) of kilocalories to the childrens diets. The high snack frequency of whole milk most likely contributes to the significantly higher levels of protein, B12, and sodium in the childrens diets. Regression analysis examined the independent effect of SES variables on childrens macronutrient intakes, with maternal education being a significant explanatory variable. Average percentage of childrens weight/age, height/age, and weight/height were 106 ± 13.4%, 101 ± 4.4%, and 105 ± 10.6%, respectively. Thus, it was observed that study children were on average heavier and taller than the reference population.

Characteristics of American women aged 19 through 50 years consuming a lower fat diet

We examined data from 2134 women, aged 19 through 50 years, selected using a multistage stratified area probability sample representative of the United States as part of the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals 1985–86 conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Individual dietary intake was estimated from 4 non‐consecutive 24‐hour dietary recalls collected from each respondent throughout the survey year. Information on selected socioeconomic characteristics as well as self‐report of body size were also obtained. Women were classified according to three levels of energy from fat intake (<30%, 30–39%, and ≥40%). Women in the lowest level of energy from fat consumed significantly fewer calories for energy, and less cholesterol, sodium and zinc than women in the middle and highest categories of fat intake, but significantly more ascorbic acid and alcohol. Additionally, women in the lowest fat intake group were significantly less likely to meet the RDA for zinc and calcium and significantly m...

Dietary Fiber Intake and Colon Cancer Mortality in The People’s Republic of China

There are many unresolved questions concerning the relationship between dietary fiber and cancer of the large bowel. These include (1) inadequate knowledge of the physiological activities of the various dietary fiber constituents, (2) uncertainties about the food composition of these constituents, (3) variable constituent content for the same food grown in different geographic regions and at various stages of harvest, and (4) uncertainties about earlier intake levels of various fiber-containing foods during the time when cancers were forming. It would therefore appear to be inappropriate to put too much emphasis on the effects of individual fiber fractions not only because of these uncertainties of intake but also because the intakes of individual fiber fractions are strongly correlated with each other. Moreover, fiber intakes also correlate with many other dietary constituents that may be associated with the prevalence of large bowel cancer.